Week 2

Art Fairs are large events for galleries and artists to come together with dealers, collectors and the public in the name of celebrating and selling Art. Most Art Fairs are open to the public however, VIP private view tickets can be purchases for private access before the Fair opens. The dates of Art Fairs often coincide with each other to create an “Art buzz” in a specific area, allowing viewers to roam between Fairs in one city.

From an artist’s perspective, Art Fairs are a great way for the gallery that represents you to showcase your work to the world, for exposure as well as sales purposes. A gallery will have its own “booth” area and within this space can display the Art works in any way they desire. Knowledgeable sales representative will also be around the booth providing in-depth information about the work alongside encouraging sales. Art Fairs can be overwhelming; walking through a space crammed with Art and audience, however this is part of the experience.

Bethlem Gallery Art Fair- Bethlem Gallery 4th-19th December 2017

Illustrations, Ceramics, Paintings, Photographs, Sculptures, Textiles

Affordable Art Fair- Battersea Park 19th-22nd October 2017

Paintings, Photographs, Prints, Sculptures

The Other Art Fair- Victoria House, Bloomsbury- 22-25th March 2018

Illustrations, Painting, Photographs, Print, Sculpture

Bloomberg New Contemporaries

New Contemporaries is an annual competition that supports emerging Fine Artists from UK Schools. Through 1-1 mentoring sessions partnered with Art Quest, a nationally touring exhibition and a free-of-charge studio space for one year provide by SPACE, winners can expect a well-supported boost into the Art World. Founded in 1949 by Carel Weight, New Contemporaries is now sponsored by Bloomberg (a privately run financial, software, data and media company) ad is run by Director by Kirtsy Ogg, Development manager Risa Harvest, Program manager Seamus McCormack and Program Assistant Tor Fenton as well as The Board of Directors Chaired by Sacha Craddock (charity no.1013848).

£25.00 Admin fee allows competitors to submit 6 images along with an anonymous artist’s statement, (anonymity is specified by New Contemporaries to remove any biased or sympathetic votes), to a panel of judges comprised of Artists, Directors and writers annually selected by the board of Directors.

New Contemporaries acknowledge the expenses involved with being an emerging UK artist and since 2014 exhibitions costs, travel expenses and accommodation costs are reimbursed for the launch and tour of the show.

During several interviews with panelists provided on the website I noted the selection process:

Visuals and proposals are viewed on screens and drawn-up into a long list

The visuals are then collected to be viewed by the judges in person and a short list is drawn up

I final selection is name from the short list

I also noted a list of advice:

Image quality- supply high resolution images- over 300DPI

Good Work Vs Good Application- lots of applications are removed immediately purely because they do not provide enough information. Ensure proposal is clear and concise

Pre selection- don’t supply 4 images of the same piece

Don’t leave submitting to the last day- download speeds are especially slow